PRACTICE CASE STUDIES

Marriott-Keeping with the times

Background:

In 1927, J. William Marriott (William) set-up a nine-seat root beer shop in Washington. After some time, William started serving hot food along with root beer and named the shop as ‘The Hot Shoppe.’ In 1929, Hot Shoppe was officially incorporated as Hot Shoppes, Inc.

In 1937, Hot Shoppe ventured into airline catering at Washington airport, serving the Eastern, American and Capital airlines. Over the next three decades, Hot Shoppes diversified into other businesses including food services management by starting a cafeteria at the US Treasury Building and Highway division.

The Marriot Network:

Headquartered at Washington in the US, Marriott International (Marriott) is a world leader in the hospitality industry today.

In year 2003, it had a network in excess of 2,600 operating units in the US and a workforce of 145,000 employees, spread over 65 countries across the world.

Marriott’s diverse portfolio of popular hotel brands included leading brands such as Marriott, JW Marriott, Renaissance, Ramada International, Courtyard, Residence Inn, and The Ritz-Carlton, among others.

Marriott became the first hospitality company to win the CIO – 100 award from CIO magazine for four consecutive years (2000-03).

The award was based on the company’s exceptional customer service and relationship capability. Reacting to the receipt of award in 2003, Carl Wilson, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Marriot said, “This award is the result of a culture and commitment among Marriott’s information technology leadership team, associates and business partners to create great value for our company.”

Customer Orientation:

Since its inception, Marriott has focused on providing excellent customer service. The company offered personalized services to its clients, whom it referred to as its ‘guests.’

It had introduced several innovative technologies and implemented them even before its competitors did. For instance, in the 1980’s, the company launched Marriott Automated Reservation System for Hotel Accommodation (MARSHA), a totally new concept of hotel reservation in the hospitality industry at that time.

Marriott made continuous improvements in its business processes in its efforts to ‘delight’ its customers. In 1998, the company adopted an e-business strategy to re-orient itself to serve its customers better. The company was operationalizing a strategy to switch over from a decentralized property-orientation to a centralized customer-orientation in its services.

Using the worldwide web for competitive advantage:

The Marriot website’s home page had five main icons including hotel directories, reservations, meeting planners, travel agents and a suggestion box. The hotel directories section had details such as the name of the hotel, the address and phone numbers of all the hotels in the Marriott chain across the world. Clients could select the city and the hotel where they wanted accommodation.

Marriott’s e-business strategy aimed at transforming itself from a property-focused to a customer- focused company. Previously, Marriott measured its financial performance on the basis of the revenues earned for each of its individual property. The e-business strategy emphasized on increasing revenues earned per customer. The four key objectives of the e-business strategy included serving customers proactively, personalizing the service offerings according to the needs and preferences of the customers, enhancing brand loyalty and awareness, and cross-selling accommodation, on the screen.

In 1999, Marriott earned revenues of $150 mn from online bookings through its website. Estimates for the year 2000 indicated that every month, the website received three mn hits, making it one of the largest viewed websites in the US hospitality industry. By 2002, the website emerged as a money-spinner for Marriott with online sales of $1 bn.

Practice Questions:

1. “Since its inception, Marriott has focused on providing excellent customer service”- Justify this statement. (20 Marks)

2. How did Marriott manage its diverse portfolio of hotel brands? How effective was their strategy? (10 + 15 = 25 Marks)

3. How did Marriott transform from being a property focused company to a customer focused one? How did the company’s financial outlook change in this regard? (15 +10= 25 Marks)

4. Do you think that the Marriott model can be replicated in the Indian context? Give reasons for your answer. (25 Marks)

PRACTICE QUESTIONS- SALES & MARKETING INCLUDING SERVICE MARKETING

SALES & MARKETING



1) What constitutes the “Marketing Environment” of an organization? Is the marketing environment of a hospitality organization different from that a manufacturing unit?

2) What are the different types of products of a five star hotel? How would you segment the consumer markets for the restaurant of such a hotel?

3) Discuss the key elements in the strategic planning process of a hotel.

4) What is meant by marketing organization? What are the major considerations that go into the process of development of an effective marketing organization in the hospitality industry?

5) “To achieve Total Quality Management in the area of marketing, integration of marketing functions is a pre-requisite” Discuss this statement in context of the hospitality industry.

6) Critically analyze the significance of each of the following in the hospitality market:

a) Women b) Corporate Sector

7) Is the role of a Sales Manager in the hospitality industry any different from that of other service industries (eg. Bank)?

8) What are the positioning strategies adopted by multinational hotel groups starting operations in developing countries like India?

9) How important is pricing in the current hospitality industry context in India? Distinguish between pricing strategies adopted by indigenous and international brands.

10) What is meant by Marketing Planning Process? Prepare a marketing plan for a Coffee Shop in your locality using the Marketing Planning Process.

11) Identify the various stages of consumer decision making and run through these stages in the process of buying a Honda Car.

12) What is meant by Psychographics? Explain through examples.

13) Identify the key segments in the hotel market.

14) Discuss the importance of women as a market segment in the services sector.

15) How is the mission statement connected to Marketing?

16) What is “Service Quality”? How is service quality related to Marketing?

17) What is TQM? How can you achieve TQM through Marketing?

18) How would you position a newly started multi cuisine restaurant in Salt Lake?

19) Design the Marketing Organization of 5 star boutique hotel in a metro city.

20) Write short notes on (any 2):

a) Marketing Environment b) Marketing Mix c) Importance of Corporate Sector in Marketing d) Portfolio Analysis

21) How is the hospitality industry different from other industries? Discuss

22) What is meant by needs, wants, demand and exchange in marketing? Explain through suitable examples

23) What is meant by Marketing Information System? Discuss the scope and importance of such a system.

24) Do a SWOT Analysis for a proposed 5 Star Hotel in the Park Street area of Kolkata.

25) Discuss the Product Mix in the Hospitality Business

26) What are the basic steps of Branding? What is meant by “Brand Equity”?

27) Discuss the steps in developing an effective communication plan for a hospitality organization

28) Write short notes on:

a) Pricing of Hospitality Products b) Differences between PR and Publicity c) Personal selling in the Hotel Industry d) Marketing Arithmetic and its utility

For Resources refer to the link:

Tips for Graduating Students/Young Managers

• Cross Cultural Communication:


A global environment implies business models based on supply or value chains, models resulting from acquisition, mergers and restructuring. This scenario naturally necessitates that we appreciate diverse cultures in our workforce and acquire necessary skills to deal in cross-cultural communication.

• Attrition

With a whole lot of new sectors coming into the fold India today has a lot for opportunities for young professionals than a few years back. This again has a flip side. As ladies and gentleman managing functions, retaining your team is going to be the greatest challenge in the years ahead. You must appreciate this isn’t just a problem for the HR fraternity ---it’s everybody’s problem now.

• HR and Marketing Skills for everyone

Infact, every business model today necessitates that executives be skilled in the HR and Marketing functions because anyways you shall be managing people and your success shall lie in success of those you manage. Again out of pure business need every entrepreneur explicitly or implicitly desires that you market the brand both internally and externally.

• Multitasking

Business today also demands that one gets into the multi-tasking mode. Instead of cribbing about limited or unavailable resources modern managers are expected to make do with available resources and make do in the best possible way.

• Networking

The importance of networking was never so underscored as it is now. From being frowned upon or being branded as “unethical”, managers who are effective in networking at the personal and professional level are not just admired or respected but are undoubtedly in huge demand.

• Good Human Being

I believe if one wishes to be liked and admired by everybody in the circuit one needs to be a good human being. Humility, Compassion, Sense of Humor, Empathy and Honesty – these eternal values are gaining more importance ironically in an age where the human being is often reduced to a robot. Perhaps that is the reason why a good human being in blood and flesh is in great demand! Good Manager or Good Human Being? In the years ahead there won’t be much of a difference between the two.